Hula Hoops
by Patrick the Stump
Summary: Sleep deprivation, hula hoops and Water Goblins make for an interesting morning, especially when two conflicting blondes are involved.


**A/N**: This is for the 'That's precise challenge' by **Kissing Sin** and a personal challenge that a fab writer called **Little Dancing Flames** gave me. For Flames's challenge, I just needed to write a trio-era Draco/Luna pairing. For Kissing Sin's challenge, I need to use the time 19.16 either in hours or minutes. I also needed to use the prompt 'Hula Hoop'. Thank you both for the inspiration. Here it is then:

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><p><span>Hula Hoop<span>

Draco ran a hand through his dishevelled, blonde hair. This was the third time in four days that he'd woken this early. It was barely six-o-clock, but the rays of the early morning sun crept temptingly across the room, tickling his bare forearms. Wait, that couldn't be right. The Slytherin common room was under the lake, wasn't it? It must've been Draco's sleep deprived mind and sore eyes then, that created the glorious illusion of sun.

Despite contrary belief, Draco liked the sun. Though he was pale and had to smother himself with the most greasy and expensive of potions, that prevented burning, he enjoyed it nonetheless. So, it was with the hope of catching at least a little sun, that Draco escaped the chill of the common room to the no warmer, but at least brighter corridors.

He wore nothing but the same pair of shorts and holey t-shirt he'd worn to bed, but the thought of crossing paths with somebody else never even entered his mind. So, as you can imagine, when he escaped the confines of the castle and began to wander the grounds, he was surprised to see a lone figure standing a few feet away from the Black Lake. Even more surprising was what the figure was doing. Draco watched, slightly transfixed by the girl's hips, which were rotating in an odd way, a bright green hoop somehow staying up around her waist. She must've cast a spell on that strange looking circle. There was no way it could stay like that for any period of time, Draco thought to himself.

Draco pulled his eyes away from her mesmerising hips and up past the contours of her waist and the odd blouse she was wearing, that floated loosely around her torso. His eyes skimmed over her chest and neck, finally coming to rest on a pair of startlingly blue eyes that were staring curiously into his.

It was the Lovegood girl, the one who constantly twittered on about make-believe creatures and silly little legends. Draco had always wondered how she'd managed to get into Ravenclaw, with her head stuffed so full of nonsense. Playing pretend was for children, and the sooner she realised that, the better. As much as Draco didn't like the girl, and as much as he resented her for still having a little innocence and childhood left about her, his feet still somehow carried him towards her little spot by the lake.

"What on earth are you doing?" Draco's voice sounded cynical, patronising and cold - just how he'd intended it to be.

It was her voice that shocked him. It held no malice, but was soft and strangely melodic, "I'm trying to attract the Water Goblins."

"Oh," was all Malfoy could say. He wanted to bite back with something bitter and sharp, but her answer had caught him so off guard that he had no idea what to do with himself.

"And, what's that?" he said, nodding at the strange circle. His voice was back to its steely self, of which he was glad. He wasn't fond of being reduced to a dithering idiot.

"It's called a Hula Hoop," she replied in the same, misty voice, her hips still swinging from side to side.

"And that is supposed to attract these so called Water Goblins, is it?" his voice was mocking, but it didn't seem to register in her mind. Her face was still polite and openly curious. A small crease formed on her forehead and her blue, too-wide eyes blinked.

"Oh yes," she said matter-of-factly, "Daddy sent it to me for my birthday. If you keep the Hula Hoop going for exactly twenty minutes, the Goblins will appear," she glanced at the stopwatch beside her feet. "They're supposed to be quite a sight; their skin is multicoloured, like a fish's scales."

"In all fairness, I'm not sure it will work. I mean, it isn't really that attractive." That was a lie. Luna, with her blonde waves almost falling to her waist and her slightly elfin features, looked beautiful. Not that Draco was about to admit such a thing any time soon.

Luna lifted up her head as if she could deflect the insult with her jaw. "Can you please go away?" she said calmly. "The Water Goblins aren't particularly fond of cynics."

"Cynical?" he said, rather cynically, "Actually, I think you'll find I'm living in the _real_ world, Lovegood."

Luna shook her head sadly, her hips still swinging side to side like a pendulum.

"Sometimes it's just the Wrackspurts," she said, almost too hopefully, "They often suck the open-mindedness out of people. That's why I wear earmuffs to bed."

Draco was annoyed. He didn't like the odd things she came out with. He knew that she was crazy, but he liked things to be set in stone, proven with facts.

"If you were any more open-minded, your brain would fall out," spat Draco, turning on his heels. He was about to walk away, until he heard a gush of air around his head and Luna's fingers quickly brushed against the side of his face. What was she trying to do, decapitate him?

Draco turned back around, still incredulous, as Luna took another swipe at the air around his head.

"Those pesky things," said Luna, nearly taking his head off again, "They just won't" – _swipe _"go" – _swipe _"away!"

Draco grabbed hold of her arms so as to stop himself from suffering a painful death. Luna's hula-hoop fell to the floor, rolling around in a circle at her feet. The stopwatch let out a harsh, shrill beep, insinuating that Luna had dropped the hoop, but neither of them seemed to notice.

Draco wasn't sure what made him do it. It might've been the fact that he was on the point of collapsing with sleep deprivation; it might've been because he was caught in one of those crazy, strange, spontaneous moments you see in romantic comedies or it may even have been because in the weak sunlight that beat down on her pale skin, making patterns on her long blonde hair, she actually looked rather pretty, but whatever his motives were, he still did it; he kissed her.

He didn't even think about what he was doing, about how wrong it was, as his lips met hers. What was even more surprising was that she didn't think either. No, instead of thinking, she wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss in a way that Draco Malfoy didn't expect, especially from someone like Luna Lovegood. Draco's hands were gentle and his lips were soft and careful, making a trail of barely-there kisses from her jaw line to her right shoulder. This was something Luna Lovegood definitely didn't expect, especially not from Draco Malfoy. They seemed to be learning an awful lot about each other that morning. Draco learnt that Luna gripped his shirt tightly, almost as if she was too afraid to let go. Draco liked it. Luna learnt that Draco's hair was possibly the softest thing she had ever felt, now that it wasn't gelled back against his head. Luna liked it.

Luna pulled away first, and Draco reluctantly let go of her waist. She walked towards the timer that had lain on the ground, forgotten.

"Nineteen minutes, sixteen seconds," she sighed. "If only you'd waited another forty four, the Water Goblins would've come. I'll have to start again now." There was an agitated look on her face, but Draco was sure he could see a smile behind her eyes.

Draco sat down a few feet away from her, glancing casually towards the lake. After all, he _did _want to see the Water Goblins.

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><p><strong>AN**: Okay, that was really hard. Nnow I know why they call it a challenge. Draco was a bit OOC and things kind of shifted halfway through. What have we learnt from this? Well, that I should probably stick to Next Gen fics.

A huge thank you to **Woodrow Rynne** for reading through this and giving me feedback.

Please review.


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